Thermocouple clip



March 16, 1965 I R. s. LOVELAND 3,173,473

THERMOCOUPLE CLIP Filed June 8. 1962 INVENTOR. Z0622 S'ZOVELANDATTOZA/E) United States Patent 3,173,473 THERMOCOUPLE CLIP Roger S.Loveland, Torrance, Califi, assignor to Honeywell Inc., a corporation ofDelaware Filed June 8, 1962, Ser. No. 201,140 Claims. (Cl. 158-123) Thisinvention relates to spring clips and, more particularly, to athermocouple clip for retaining a thermocouple in a pilot burner bracketin lieu of a conventional screw threaded ring nut. v In view of the factthat there is a constant trend for gas furnaces to provide smaller andsmaller spaces for the main burner as well as the pilot burner for themain burner and controls for controlling the gas flow to these burners,control manufacturers are constantly striving to make controls morecompact and make them more readily installed in the furnaces and toprovide for easier and better servicing of the components of the fuelfeeding system.

One of the objects of this invention is to proivde a spring clip thatwill take the place of the conventional ring nut generally used forholding the thermocouple in a pilot burner bracket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a thermocouple retainingmember which is quickly and easily insertable and removable into thepilot burner bracket for retaining a thermocouple therein.

Another object of the invention is to proivde a spring clip forthermocouple mounting wherein the spring clip has means for holding iton the thermocouple, to facilitate the mounting of the thermocouple in asupporting bracket.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a thermocouplemounting clip which may be manipulated by the installers fingers toposition a thermocouple in a pilot burner bracket.

Still other objects of the invention will become apparent upon readingthe following detailed description of the invention in conjunction withthe accompany drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a pilot burner and thermocoupleassembly illustrating the invention substantially at normal size;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the thermocouplesupporting portion of the assembly of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view of the upper end of the spring clip inside elevation; and,

FIGURE 4 is a View similar to FIGURE 2 showing a thermopile mounted inthe supporting bracket rather than the thermocouple of FIGURES 1 and 2.

The clip of this invention is generally designated by the referencenumeral 11 and is used to support either a thermocouple 12 or athermopile 13 in a sleeve-like supporting member 14, which, in turn, issuitably mounted in a bore 15 through a mounting bracket 16. Themounting bracket 16 has holes therein which permit mounting bolts (notshown) to pass therethrough and be secured to a main burner of thefurnace, which also are not shown. A mounting bracket 16 also supports apilot burner 17 in spaced relationship to the thermocouple so that theflame from the pilot burner 17 can play on the upper end of thethermocouple unit.

The thermocouple supporting sleeve 14 has an inwardly extending annularflange 14a that is beveled at its lower end at 141; to provide anabutment shoulder for the enlarged diameter portion or annular rib 12bof the thermocouple or 13:: of the thermopile. The lower end of thesleeve portion 14 is interiorally threaded at 14c.

It is in this type of a thermocouple supporting member 3,173,473Patented Mar; 16, 1965 that the thermocouple clip of this invention isadapted to be used to quickly insert the thermocouple unit and firmlyhold it in place with respect to the associated pilot burner. The cliphas a body portion 18 that terminates at its lower end in an inwardlyextending annular flange 19 adapted to bear against the lower end of anenlarged diameter portion of a thermocouple unit. Extending transverselyoutwardly from the upper end of the body portion 18 is an annular flange20 which is bent backwardly upon itself at 21 to form a loop 20a betweenthe flange portions 20 and 21. The inner end of the flange 21 terminatesin a plurality of thread engaging fingers 22 and a plurality ofthermocouple engaging fingers 23. The thread engaging fingers areperipherally arranged in groups of two spaced annularly around the inneredge of the flange 21 while the thermocouple engaging fingers 23 arepositioned annularly around the flange 21 between each pair of threadengaging fingers. The thread engaging fingers normally extendsubstantially parallel to the axis of the spring clip while thethermocouple engaging fingers extend generally in the same direction asthe thread engaging fingers but are inclined inwardly towards the axisof the clip so as to frictionally engage a thermocouple unit when such aunit is inserted through the clip. These thermocouple engaging fingershave outwardly bent end portions 23a to prevent the digging in of theends into the surface of the thermocouple units. The main function ofthese fingers is to hold the clip around the thermocouple unit to aid inthe assembly of the thermocouple into the supporting bracket.

The thread engaging fingers have outwardly struck arcuate ribs 22athrough 22, thereon, one on each finger, in the modification shown inthe drawing, there being six of such fingers. These ribs are spacedinwardly from the upper end of each of the fingers with the first of theribs 22a being closer to the upper end than the rib 22 on the last ofthe fingers extending around the clip from the first finger. Thedistance between the centers of these ribs is equal to the width of, orspace between, the threads in .the holder 14. It is to be noted thatthese ribs are also inclined at the same pitch as the threads.

Operation It is deemed to be readily understood that to mount either athermocouple 12 or a thermopile 13 in a thermocouple bracket having asleeve-shaped thermocouple support therein, all that is necessary inusing the invention, is to insert the thermocouple unit into and throughthe sleeve-shaped support and to shove the clip member, which isfrictionally held on the lower end of the thermocouple in guidingrelationship therewith, into the threaded lower end of the support andgive a slight clockwise rotation t9 the clip to properly align the ribs22a-22f between the threads which will cause the thermocouple to besnugly held in this sleeve-shaped member with the abutment shoulder atthe upper end of the thermocouple firmly pressing against the undersurface of the inwardly extending flange at the upper end of thesleeve-shaped support. In this inserting operation, the rounded surfaceof the ribs 22a-22f will cause the thread engaging fingers to bedeflected toward the thermocouple so that the outermost portions of theribs will ride over the threads and come to rest on the side walls ofthe grooves to provide a good anchoring means for the thermocouple inthe supporting bracket. Obviously the material of the clip is soselected that it will provide the necessary holding strength to preventaccidental disengagement of the thermocouple unit from the bracket, yetprovide enough resilience so that the thermocouple may be readilywithdrawn from the supporting bracket by merely pulling downwardly onthe thermocouple or on the clip without having to rotate the clip tocause this disengagement. It is also to be noted that the frictionfingers 23 not only keep the clip on the thermocouple, but also help toserve the function of properly aligning the thread engaging fingers sothat as the thermocouple and the clip is inserted into the support,thread engaging fingers are properly centered with respect to thethreaded opening.

As it is deemed apparent that modifications may be made in the clipwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of theinvention should be determined from the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination comprising a bracket, a threaded bore in saidbracket, a pilot burner on said bracket, a flame sensing memberpositioned in said bore for heating by said burner, and a spring clipfor retaining said flame sensing member in said threaded bore bracket,said spring clip including a generally annular-shaped body portionhaving a reduced diameter opening in the bottom thereof provided byportions thereof extending downwardly and inwardly from points aroundsaid body portion for engaging a portion of said flame sensing member,the upper edge of the body portion having a plurality of annularlyspaced fingers extending above said body portion and generally parallelto the axis of the body portion, and outwardly extending arcuate ribs onsaid fingers shaped to engage the threads in said bore to retain saidflame sensing member in said bore.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said ribs are at aninclination and positioned to provide substantially uniform contactbetween adjacent pairs of threads in said threaded bore.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said flame sensing member has anexternal annular shoulder thereon intermediate its ends and said borehas an internal annular shoulder against which said external shoulderrests when the combination is assembled.

4. A quick-connect clip for retaining a flame sensing unit in a threadedbore of a pilot burner supporting bracket comprising a generallyannularly-shaped body portion having a reduced diameter opening in thebottom thereof providing an anwardly extending flange for engaging thelower end of the flame sensing unit, the upper edge of the body portionhaving an outwardly extending annular flange that is looped back overitself and terminates in a plurality of alternately spacedthread-engageable fingers and flame sensing unit engageable fingersextending above and around the flange and generally parallel to the axisof the body portion, said flame sensing unit engageable fingers havingbearing surfaces terminating radially inwardly from thethread-engageable fingers for engaging the side walls of the flamesensing unit.

5. A quick-connect clip as defined in claim 4 wherein saidthread-engageable fingers have inclined ribs thereon so shaped that theyprovide substantially uniform contact with the surfaces of adjoiningpairs of threads when inserted in a threaded bore of a pilot burnerbracket.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,368,723 2/21Helvig 15141.75 2,286,696 6/42 Tinnerman 15141.75 2,762,989 9/56 Johnson339258 3,028,184 4/62 Knowlton 287-126 FOREIGN PATENTS 855,473 11/60Great Britain.

JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD C. ALLEN, Examiner.

1. THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A BRACKET, A THREADED BORE IN SAIDBRACKET, A PILOT BURNER ON SAID BRACKET, A FLAME SENSING MEMBERPOSITIONED IN SAID BORE FOR HEATING BY SAID BURNER, AND A SPRING CLIPFOR RETAINING SAID FLAME SENSING MEMBER IN SAID THREADED BORE BRACKET,SAID SPRING CLIP INCLUDING A GENERALLY ANNULAR-SHAPED BODY PORTIONHAVING A REDUCED DIAMETER OPENING IN THE BOTTOM THEREOF PROVIDED BYPORTIONS THEREOF EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND INWARDLY FROM POINTS AROUNDSAID BODY PORTIONS FOR ENGAGING A PORTION OF SAID FLAME SENSING MEMBER,THE UPPER EDGE OF THE BODY PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF ANNULARLYSPACED FINGERS EXTENDING ABOVE SAID BODY PORTION AND GENERALLY SPACED TOTHE AXIS OF THE BODY PORTION, AND OUTWARDLY EXTENDING ARCUATE RIBS ONSAID FINGERS SHAPED TO ENGAGE THE THREADS IN SAID BORE TO RETAIN SAIDFLAME SENSING MEMBER IN SAID BORE.